Interlocking metal sheeting.



J. B. GOLDSBOROUGH.

INTBRLOCK ING METAL SHEETING.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 29,-1912.

1,090,911; Patented Mar.24,191&

I Egg. 1B g (L A' G v Fay]. I

I INVENTOR 'WlTNESSESz JOHN B. GOJQDSBOROUGH, OF CROTON, NEW YORK.

, Specification of Letters Patent.

INTERLOCIHNG METAL SHEETING.

Patented Mar. 24, 1914.

Application filed August 29, 1912. Serial No. 717,726.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known thatI, JOHN B. GoLnsBonoven, a citizen of the United States, reslding at Croton, in the county of Westchester 5 and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful, Improvements 1n Interlocking Metal Sheeting, of which. the following is aspecification. j My invention relates to a metal sheeting or sheet piling of the class of rolled metal piling formed in sections, wherein the several sections are capable of relative long1-. tudinal movemenhand permitting lateral deflection of several sheet piles of a series when connected.

The principal object of myinvention is ga ement with an adjacent section said inter ocking edges will form a rip or interlocking joint capable of resistm the various strains. that may come upon 1t, and that f the. interlocking edges will form a waterj2 resisting j oint.

- A further and im ortant object of m invention is to provi e'a construction w erein the interlocking of the adjacent sections maybe made by alateraI entrance or engagement 'of the saided ges, and'without placinigithe saidadjacent piling sections end it is possible to set up a line of sheet pi es in position to drive from the. walls of a trench where there is headroom but, slightly exceeding the length of to. en whereby the sheet metal sections, and this advantage is accomplished by the side entrance rather than the end to end engagement. Previous structures in the class of inter- 40 locking sheet metalpiling known to me have been assembled by an end to and engagementl It is customary to assemble the secxtions to form thewalls of a pit or trench upon the surface where the r0 o'sed exca vation" is to be made, and this or the reason that in driving the sections they will ide one another and will be prevented om being deflected. It will be seen there fore that head-room is required'to assemble the saidsheet piling, more than twice the length of the sheet piling, forthe reason that one section must be placed upon the "ground, and the adjacent section must be raised above it todouble itshei ht, so that engagement may take place, an in setting at the bottom or a the material on which the up a line of 20 feet of sheet piling, which is, an ordinary length, where such interlocking is accomplished by the end to end engagement, an apparatus, 40 feet high, such as a derrick, must be provided to raise the sheet piling so that it may enga e the end of the adjacent section. A sea olding or other like means must be provided for workmen to stand on, so that they may guide the lower end of the sheet piling section held in suspension b the derrick into proper engagement. nless this is a loose fitting engagement, even though all the appliances described have been provided, great difliculty will be experienced in sliding or lowering the suspended member into position.

brequently the sections bind, requiring force to keep the sections in their proper position. This must be applied in the form of a pull push at the top of the suspended member. Either force is so difficult to apply in the'places in which such sheet piling is frequently assembled, as for instance beneath the foundationof a building, that itis easier to make such a joint :1 rec fitting or loose joint depending upon accidentalcontact of the material and the filling of the space within the joint with earth to make it tight. It will be perceived therefore that by the methods of assembling sheet piling requiring end to end engagement, a considerable head-room is essential, and this is usually difiicult to obtain. For instance in connection with subway excavations in large cities which are now of increasing importance, theexcavation often extends to great depths through soil of vary- 4 ing character from dry running sand, soft clays, water-bearing soils, and quick-sands. it is necessary that the foundatlons of the commercial buildings which usually line the routes of such subways shall be thoroughly protected, and that the sheeting driven to hold the soil in place under these heavy walls shall be of a form and character that will make strong water-tight walls of great strength capable of preventing the flow of water into the excavation, of maintaining weights of the buildings rest, and of resisting the lateral pressure due to the weight of this material, and the superimposed loads of the buildin s. The sheeting, to accomplish this, must e set up in place ready for driving where there is scarcely room to stand a single sec:

tion upri ht: It will be perceived that under such; com litions end engagements previous to driving are practically impossible. It 1s likewise, practically impossible to drive one section and then enga'ge it by-another sec tion and drive a second section down later, as obstructions which are met with tendto deflect one or the other section from its proper line. h It will be seen from the foregoing that the use of'end to end engagements It is di cult if not impossible to .-.ol tainasati'sfactory water-tight oint. It is practically necessaryv that all sections shouldbe'set'up in advance f the driving, and that duringthe' driving one section should not be driven substantially in advanceof theother. If one were driven greatly in advanceof the other some slight obstruction 'mightdeflect itfrom its proper line. This deflection would be increased when the next section was driven, and would keep increasing-until the deflection would become such as to destroy the entire usefulness-"of the piling. It is therefore necessary that'all the sheets be set up together, and

- that thebottom of each sheet be driven but ,,-terlocking'qualities to the best advantage,

slightly in advance of the one adjoining it.

In this way all'the sheet piles forming an interlocking wall,.if driven simultaneously -'or so as to maintain but a slight variation in thepenetrat'ionofthe piles, employ the in- "i"fand each one will maintain its relative position even though-they encounter obstruc- 'ti'onsthat would easily deflect them if they 1 were being driven separately. When such sheet :piles a're drivenfaltogether, they form an aintegral line capable of resisting and i :1 pushing through or aside obstructions, and- :niain'taming their-position to form a straight "i 'andimperviouswall. It will therefore be perceived that for purposes of safety where t'isinecessary to form a pit in such location itis ractically necessary that the sections 41.

;'shoul beiinterlocked before they are driven.

-"'-;' ]I It isfui 'ther apparent that in deep excavations in'flor adjacent to the foundations .of

f"'." ,buildings,'jsuflicient head-room may not be "obtained to drive sheet piles by an end to my invention may be used with greatadvaneasy to assemble. 55.

:endehgagement; Under such circumstances tages and with remarkable efficiency.

The sheet piling is simple to produce and No more head-room is required than the length of the sheet piling section and. a'space for the driving means.

'The lateral engagement which permits this alsoprovides for an interlockin joint ,which' is subst'antially water-tight, w ich hasngagement throughoutits length, and not at isolated portions.

' sections so that one section will not be de-- .flected from position relative to the adjacent My improved sheet pilingi'interlocksthe a section:

A sheet piling of the character described when used for the purpose of mamtammg the sides of an excavation for the urpose of building masonry walls within t e hues of the excavation, is often removed when the masonry has been completed; The sideentrance sheet piling according to my -mvenmore easily withdrawn Desirable forms in which my invention."

may companying drawings, wherem-- 'ti'on provides. a quick release and can Fi re 1 'is a partial elevation of as semb ed sheet piling sections located vertically; Fi 2 is a top view of the sheet piling of ig. 1 illustratin the interlock mg; Fig. 3 is another an the preferred form ofconstructing the said sheetpiling;

Fig. 4 isa planview of piling similar'to that illustrated in Fig. 3 sh owmg however a different manner of placing interlocking edges; Fig. 5 illustrates a plan view of the piling of Fig. showing however still another manner of locating the interlocking edges; Fig; 6- is an'elevation of the sheet..-

piling illustrated in-Figfi3.

Accordinfg to my invention the sheet piling is pre" erably rolled from sheet metal, such as sheet steel, and comprises a body A and interlocking ends B, G; T The said interlockin' ends are preferably produced by rolling, athou'gh they may be produced in other ways. .Such interlocking ends ma be integral .with 'the body, as illustrated in ig. 3, or portions thereof maybe formed separately and" attached thereto, as illustrated at F in Fig. 2. y y

The interlocking joint comprises corresponding interlockmg flanges'D E which are.

illustrated as substantially perpendicular to the bodies A, and asbeing ormed upon the longitudinal edges thereof by being upset; Retaining hooks F. are provided, "and th ends of such hookspoint inwardly or toward the ends of the hooks or flanges E. The ends of hooks F are situated preferably outside of the ends of hooks'E a sufficient distance to permit the entrance ofthe intenlocking flange D. The ends of the said hooks may without injury he vseparatedfa greater distance than the width ofthe said flan e. Preferably the inner surface of the I end a'of the body A will enter .within the entrance to the channel G, and as the casing 161 be embodied are illustrated in the ,acj .vided. As seen in Fig. 4:, four such points of contact exist with the construction there illustrated, and these are designated respectively H, I, J and K and are located as follows :H occurs between the end of the retaining hook F and the body of the interlooking section; I occurs between the curved inner surface of the said retaining hook F and the end a of the interlocking section; J occurs between the end of the locking flange E and the interlocking body A; and

' K occurs between the inner faces of the leakage of water is prevented. Furthermoreat the hook -F abuts against the body A of the inpoint H the end of the retaining terlocked section, and a similar engagement will occur between the ends of either the hooks D or E and the other section, whereby a stop is provided for preventing relative lateral movement of the sheet metal piling sections.

It is not essential that the retaining hook F should beintegral 'with the body A, as illustrated in- Fig. 3, although this is preferred. If desired the said retaining hook may be formed separately and secured to the said body A, as shown in Fig. 2 at F, where said retaining hook is a separate piece and is attached as by rivets L. Furthermore, although I have illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 the hook E as being offset from the body A by a return bend whereby the bottom of said hook is offset from the body A, this construction is not essential, as a satisfactory lock may be produced by simply upending the locking flange without causing the same to be offset on both sides of the body A, as seen at E Fig. 2.

The preferred construction contemplates that the hooks EF shall be at one end of one section and the hook D at the other end of the said section, but this is not necessary, as seen for instance in Fig. 4, where one section has two hooks D one on either side, and the adjacent section has on each side hooks E F. This may be preferred for some uses. Furthermore, although I. have illustrated in Fig. 4 that the interlocking flanges D project from the same side of thebody A, this is not essential, as these hooks may project from opposite sides, as'seen in Fig. 5, and this form may have advantages in assembling, enabling the sections to be assembled from opposite sides.

In the employment of my present invention the interlocking sections are engaged by first placing one section on end in the position in which it is to be driven, and the adjacent section to be interlocked with it is placed alongside but at right angles to the line of the first section. The flange D is then entered above the flange E, and the engagement is accomplished by arevolving movement wherein the section so placed at right angles is swung about the end of the hook E as an axis and turned to locking position, as seen in Fig. 4. The shape of the interlocking members is such that this turning is easily accomplished without undue friction or binding, while when in assembled position the interlocked hooks rest firmly in contact with one another for the full length of the sheet metal piling section.

It will be observed that in sheet metal piling construction according to this invention, a lateral pressure only serves to increase the contact between interlocked sections and thereby to increase the strength and the ability to resist the inflow of water.

The shape of the interlocking joints may be suitably varied to permit of a corner joint, so that sections may be assembled at right angles, or the body A may be bent if desired.

It has been heretofore stated that in the specific construction illustrated four-points of contact are provided, and that-the conin a vertical direction. While the sheeting might beso placed that one or more of these points of contact might separate, they could not all separate at the same time. Therefore any amount of disturbance during or after driving could not so separate all the points of contact of the interlocking joint in such a way as to give a free openin for the liberal flow of water through the oint. This form of metal sheet piling can be used and placed in a horizontal position not only for the purpose described, but for any other purposes where such sheet piling is required,

as for instance for a well, a foundation pit,

' cal position, but it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the said sectional sheet piling may advantageously be employed by assembling the same in a horizontal position. For such use the top or curb piece must be securely held in position, whereuponthe succeeding members are hung to it by assembling in the manner hereinbefore described. Such succeeding members .are securely retained in place and cannot get loose and fall out, for the reason that in order to disengage them the bottom section must be first disengaged by swingin the lower edge of the piece to be disengaged tact extends the entire length of the joint up until it is at'right angles to the side, then it can be removed in the same way in which it was put together. In other words, a horizontal sheeting of a pit hangs like a curtain from the top. It will be apparent that the side engagement of interlocking sheeting is the only practical interlockin sheeting that could be used in a horizonta position as a lining for an excavation such as described above.

I have illustrated a few of the shapes in which an integral rolled beam may be made in accordance with my invention, but it is evident that such beam could he rolled in other shapes whether integral or in sections joined together, and it is evident that modifications can be made in the particular shapes illustrated, and.v other forms employed, without departing from my invention as defined in the accompanying claims.

; said hooks having their ends separated forming a side entrance for said flange.

2. "Sheet metal piling formed in sections having longitudinal interlocking edges and tion having its edge and situated outside 0 said flange a di's-' adapted to interlock by a lateral entrance, sea

and a retaining ook on said adjacent secro ecting inwardly tance substantially equal to the thickness of the interlocking flange, and having its inner surface curved forming an entrance and iding channel for said interlocking ange, whereby a plurality of points of conin'te'rlocking edges comprising a substantially rectangular flange on the edge of one section and a corresponding rectangular flange on the ed e of the adjacent section,-

tact between said interlocking edges is obtainedand a tight joint is provided.

3. Sheet metal piling formed in sections havinglongitudinal interlocking edges and adapted to interlock by a lateral entrance, said interlocking edges comprising a substantially rectangular flange on the edge of one section and a corresponding rectangular flange on the edge of the adjacent section,

and a retaining hook integral with said adjacent section having its edge-projecting inwardly and situated outside of said flange a distancesubstantially equal to the thickness of the interlocking flange, and having its inner surface curved forming an entrance and guiding channel for said interlocking flange, whereby a plurality of points of contact between said interlocking ed es is obtained and a tight-joint is provide 4. Sheet metal piling formed in sections andhaving' longitudinal interlocking edges, said interlocking edges adapted to engage by a lateral entrance and providing a plurality. of points of contact between said interloc'king edges. I

5. Sheet metal piling formed in sections and having longitudinal interlocking edges,

said interlocking edges adapted to engage by a lateral entrance and providing a p1urality of points of contact between said interlocking wedges throughout a the length thereof.

6; Sheet metal piling 'formedin sections and having longitudinal interlocking edges,

said interlocking edges adapted to engage by a lateral entranceand providing four points.

of contact between sald interlocking edges. In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. p JOHN B. GOLDSBOROUGH. Witnesses: I

JULns R, BREUOHAUD, F. M. HARDER.

' copies of this patent ,may'he' obtained for live cents each, by addressing the commissioner of latents,

Washington, D. G. I 

